Georgia Tech OMS CS

"What the Georgia Tech 'experiment' has taught us, Mr. Galil says, is that there is 'a very high, maybe even huge unmet demand for higher education right now' from people who haven’t been part of the traditional pool for campus recruitment. 'These are working people, often without the ability to pay high fees, living sometimes a long way from any college.' Universities will find ways to address their needs, mostly through online instruction." Zvi Galil was in the Wall Street Journal!

"During my first semester as an OMSCS student, I was taking Ed Tech (CS 6460), which revolves around a capstone project and requires self-directed systematic academic research and development. The following quote from Dr. Joyner helped me gain perspective while drinking from the research firehose and eventually publish the resulting work in ACM's Learning at Scale Journal: 'It’s natural to look at these [research] woods and see nothing but chaos and confusion and feel lost. ...There is no map because the land hasn't been defined yet. Your goal is merely to grab a shovel and go help dig that hole. Maybe that hole becomes a house; maybe it gets filled in a week later by the dirt dug up for a different hole. But we won't know until we try. The important thing is just for you to learn enough to be able to contribute in some small way.' TA Vrinda Nandan on her favorite OMSCS memory in this week's spotlight! https://omscs.gatech.edu/ta-spotlight-vrinda-nandan

"Don’t get discouraged by the chatter on Piazza, Ed, or Slack. It can be frustrating when you’re stuck on a homework assignment and everyone else on the class forum seems to get it. Sometimes it’s easy to feel like you’re the only one struggling, but remember that for every star student answering all the other students’ posts, there are dozens more who have the same questions that you do. Don’t be afraid to be wrong get involved in those discussions and follow the class forums the same way most of us follow social media. They’re a very valuable resource, both for finding answers to your questions and connecting you with your classmates." A great piece of advice from TA Dalton Bassett. Don't forget applications for summer TAs are due March 7! http://omscs.gatech.edu/ta-spotlight-dalton-bassett

Our own Zvi Galil was named one of the most influential computer scientists!

Being given the opportunity to perform substantive research work has been a very important part of my OMSCS experience, as working through the process from design through IRB approvals and authoring of conference papers is unfortunately not part of the typical OMSCS course work." OMSCS student Ellie Shivers on what LucyLabs offers:

Even if you aren't an OMSCS student, you can still take David Joyner's Python course, which Class Central ranked one of the top courses of all time! https://pe.gatech.edu/blog/best-online-courses-all-time

Some holistic advice from Victor Legros's TA Spotlight: "Take a moment to tally the things you value and spend time on in your life now. Next, think about what your goals are for your studies, assess how you learn best, and gather up tools and resources. Pursuing a graduate degree is demanding, and it is easy to over-commit yourself or be caught out by multiple things coming due. To finish strong, you may need to make trade-offs or lean on support from others, so knowing for yourself and preparing will help you persist and get through it when things get messy. It takes measures of adaptability and time, but it can be very rewarding, too!" http://omscs.gatech.edu/ta-spotlight-victor-legros

A shout-out to both Jill Watson and OMSCS in this Harvard Business Review story on higher education moving online:

We're excited to attend Grace Hopper Celebration this week! https://www.cc.gatech.edu//record-number-students-attend-l

"There will be times when you get down on yourself and feel overwhelmed, but stick to your plan and persevere. The end result is well worth it." TA Mike Romano with some encouraging words in this week's TA Spotlight: http://omscs.gatech.edu/ta-spotlight-mike-romano

"I think that it is incredibly important to have a diverse teaching staff, so that students feel comfortable approaching instructors with questions and concerns and so that students can see someone like themselves succeeding in the computer science space. I TA so that I can be a voice to represent the diverse student body of the OMSCS program and help students from diverse backgrounds succeed." TA Emily Harmon on why she TAs for OMSCS: http://omscs.gatech.edu/ta-spotlight-emily-harmon

"Look ahead and plan. Due to the online nature, no one is going to hold you accountable, so you have to make your own systems that work for you. During my first term, I didn't think the projects in GIOS would be that bad and ended up pulling two all-nighters to try and get it done in time. I now plan out my entire term on day one and look at projects the day they come out to create a road map." A great tip from TA Calen Robinette. Our TA Spotlight is now back to every other week! http://omscs.gatech.edu/ta-spotlight-calen-robinette

Welcome to a new semester! Whether it's your first or last, we are ready for you and can't wait to see what you do! (And don't worry! This is an old photo from our Spring 2019 campus tour.)

We're excited for Learning @ Scale starting tomorrow, so much so we made a website of our research! https://sites.gatech.edu/las20ed/

We'll have 10,000 students this fall! Are you ready?

"Georgia Tech and CoC are dedicated to finding ways to use technology to expand the impact of CS education. As a public university, our responsibility is both to the students we serve and to the nation, and OMSCS pioneers the change in the educational landscape with both responsibilities in mind. Our future depends upon it." Former Dean Zvi Galil wrote about the founding and impact of OMSCS in ACM's Communications of the ACM:

"My best study hack is something called spaced repetition. With spaced repetition you learn about one fact, then review in an increasing time interval. There is science behind this method, and for me it is what seems to work the best. The method is normally used with flashcards." A study tip from TA Ioan Istrate in this month's TA Spotlight! http://omscs.gatech.edu/ta-spotlight-ioan-istrate

Have you made a complete career pivot thanks to your OMSCS degree? We'd love to hear from you!